"Hi Jia," a friendly voice greeted her as she entered HYBE
"Hello," Jia replied with a smile, returning the greeting.
"Good morning don't forget to get everything ready before 1 pm" someone else chimed in, reminding her about the meeting later that day.
"Morning J," a third voice said as Jia smiled at them all in turn.
"Hii, how are you?" another voice asked, and Jia smiled and returned the greeting once again, grateful for the friendly faces greeting her as she began her day.
Jia grabbed her phone to check her schedule for the day. "Write 3 songs, make the instrumental for new jeans," she read, and then added, "Meeting, 1 PM."
"Not bad." Jia shrugged, and started down the hall toward the studio. Hoping her friend would already be there.
"Chen Jiayi!" Adora, a blonde-haired girl, shouted, startling Jia.
"Why are you late?" the blonde cried, before shaking her shoulders in frustration. "Do you know how much I suffered listening to Bongcha talk about her husband?"
Jia let out a small chuckle at her friend, she hugged her tightly and told her, "Shut up, she might hear you."
"I don't care," Adora replied stubbornly. "Maybe she'll finally stop talking."
"Stupid," Adora stuck her tongue out at Jia's words, annoyed by her tardiness. "I was late because my neighbor decided to throw his trash at my door again."
"Again?" Adora's eyes widened in shock. "Why aren't you reporting him? That man is crazy. Why aren't they doing anything about it?"
"I did, but they can't do shit," Jia sighed, resigned to her neighbor's bad behavior. "He's old and rich so they'll do nothing"
Adora continued to rant about how much she hated that kind of thing, cursing the old man too. Jia laughed, finding her friend's anger amusing.
"Anyway, do you want to go out later?" Adora asked. "We can hang out at the park, or maybe grab lunch."
The question immediately filled her with feelings of sadness and guilt, her heart aching with memories of the girl she once loved. Beautiful moments, both shared and stolen, played in her mind, each one bringing new waves of pain.
Jia wanted to forget the past, to move on and find happiness. But every time she thought she had finally started to move on, a memory would come up and send her spiraling once again. It seemed she was destined to relive the joy and pain of her past, over and over again.
"I'm sorry, but I'm actually really busy today," Jia responded in a smooth tone. "I've got a meeting during my break, so I have to pass."
Adora frowned, finding it hard to believe her friend's sudden excuse. "I'm not seeing you in the cafeteria either," Adora pressed her friend for more information.
"I eat here sometimes," Jia cut in quickly. "The cafeteria gets too crowded sometimes, especially with the new trainees."
"Oh my god yes. And you can hardly find somewhere to sit." Jia was relieved that Adora had changed the subject. She didn't want her friend to question her right now
A few hours later, Jia finished everything on her to-do list. She sent the instrumental to the producer for New Jeans, finished the songs she had to write, and created a demo of them for good measure.
She checked the time, and her eyes widened as she realized she had just five minutes before the meeting. Her head spinning as she tried to remember what she had to grab, she quickly collected her things and dashed downstairs, hoping to make it in time.
Thankfully, she arrived on time. Bang Si-Hyuk, Adora, and some other producers were there. To her surprise, Jia didn't recognize the woman sitting next to Bang Si-Hyuk, wondering if she was a new hire?
"You're right on time," Bang Si-Hyuk spoke up, making Jia smile. "Let's get this meeting started."
Similar to the previous meetings, the focus was on assigning producers to groups and deciding who would write which songs. Jia was excited as she found out she would be producing songs for Lesserafim and NewJeans again. She absolutely loved working with the girls and was looking forward to continuing that work.
"This is Kang Jisoo," Bang Si-Hyuk said, Jia didn't recognize the woman "She is Aespas manager, from SM entertainment" at that Jia furrowed her brows, given the tense relationship between HYBE and SM Entertainment, she was confused about the presence of a representative from the other company.
"The girls are obsessed with your work, Jia," Jisoo turned to her, and the producer felt her face heat up under everyone's gaze. "I can't blame them, you're really talented," Jisoo continued. "A while ago, they requested to work with you, but we said no because we didn't think HYBE would accept. But they were very persistent and wanted this to happen, so here we are."
Jia was at a loss for words. She had worked with producers from other companies before, but never for a group outside of HYBE. Furthermore, Aespa was one of her favorite girl groups, so the opportunity was too good to pass up. She looked up at the older man and he gave her a nod, to which she blurted out "Yes" before quickly correcting herself. "I mean, I'd love to," she said, still feeling the shock from the situation.
"Awesome," Jisoo cheered, clapping her hands in relief. "So, it's settled then. I'll email you with the information you need about the album, and everything else. It would be amazing if it could all be done within two weeks."
Bang Si-Hyuk laughed "You don't know our hidden treasure" Jisoo chuckled. "She will probably finish it by next week." Jisoo smiled.
"The faster, the better," Jisoo added, wanting to make sure the song was ready as soon as possible.
The meeting comes to an end, and as everyone begins to leave, Jia makes her way up to Soojin to thank her and the girl group for working with her. She bows politely, saying, "I just wanted to thank you and the girls for working with me, I'll try my best. And please tell the girls that I'm a fan of them and I love them."
Soojin lets out a laugh at Jia's fangirling and nods, noting that the girls are going to go crazy when they hear the news. "It's my pleasure to meet HYBE's hidden treasure," Soojin adds playfully,
When she began working with BigHit, Jia was anxious to use her real name for fear of being bullied or hated for her work by fans. So, she adopted the working name "Lucky" to hide her identity and protect her privacy.
Over time, she grew fond of the anonymity and didn't want to reveal her true name to anyone. This gave her a mysterious aura, making her known throughout the industry as HYBE's hidden treasure for producing hit songs for big groups, starting with BTS and continuing with many more.
"Thank you," Jia smiled. "And can you do me a favor? Please don't share my name with anyone," she added.
"Of course," the older lady responded. "Don't worry. Bang Si-Hyuk already warned me about that. I'll see you soon. I need to leave for another meeting," she explained with a light pat on Jia's shoulders.
Jia smiled and thanked the woman once more before making her way to the studio. She took a seat on the sofa and grabbed her phone.
An idea popped into her head. "Stop, Jia. Don't do it!" She scolded herself. It had been years since she last searched for her, but did she miss her? Absolutely. Will she regret it? Surely, a hundred percent, yes.
Not wanting to ponder more about it, she opened instagram and went to the search bar
badalee__
Fuck it.
Eli~
ik adora debuted as a soloist but i wanted her in this story so lets act like she's still working as a producer for hybe🙌
ALSO follow my tiktok @/soulsuck33r ill be making edits abt bada x jia and post it there